I love the idea of making a chocolate cake from scratch. Truly, I do. But as a child of the 80s, I was raised on the unmistakable flavor of Devil’s Food boxed cake mix, and nothing from‑scratch has ever quite matched that nostalgic taste. So when I stumbled across the recipe for Stir‑Together Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream on the Bake From Scratch website, I was intrigued. It used ingredients I already keep in the house, came together quickly, and—best of all—made a single 8" cake. In other words: small‑batch, waistline‑friendly, and perfect for just the two of us. I didn’t have brewed coffee on hand, so I added a teaspoon of espresso powder to the hot water, and the result was a cake so moist and flavorful it came closer than anything I’ve ever baked to that beloved Devil’s Food taste of my youth.
Of course, I couldn’t resist tweaking it. Instead of baking one 8" cake, I divided the batter between two 6" pans to create a sweet little layered cake. The chocolate buttercream was still the perfect amount to frost the whole thing, no scraping-the-bowl gymnastics required.
Now, I know some of you have reached out to say that icing a cake feels intimidating, or that my cakes look “too hard” to recreate. So I wanted to use this recipe to show just how simple it can be to create a beautiful finish with nothing more than a piping bag and a 2D tip (or any large star tip you already have).
Here’s exactly what I did:
- I filled a disposable piping bag with all the buttercream (quick cleanup for the win).
- For the bottom layer, I started in the center and piped a spiral outward to the edge.
- I placed the second layer on top and just… kept piping.
- On the top, I turned my wrist slightly as I piped to create soft rosettes.
- Along the bottom edge, I held my hand still and simply squeezed to make star shapes.
That’s it. Truly. Minimal effort, maximum “wow.” My husband even called it fancy, and it took less than five minutes.
This cake is also wonderfully versatile. If you’re entertaining or heading to a potluck, you can leave it right in the baking dish and frost just the top. Double the recipe and you’ve got a perfect 9×13" crowd‑pleaser. And don’t be afraid to play with the buttercream flavor—swap the extract flavor, or type of chocolate to put your own unique spin on it.
Fast, easy, nostalgic, and delicious—this one is definitely going into the rotation.
